Former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid believes India have slipped slightly behind in the race to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2027 final. The summit clash is scheduled to be played at The Oval in June next year, with India currently needing a strong finish to their ongoing WTC cycle. India are presently fifth in the WTC 2025-27 points table and face a challenging road ahead. Shubman Gill’s side have seven Tests remaining in the cycle and are likely to need at least five victories to finish among the top two and secure a place in the final.
Despite India’s position, Dravid believes the team still has enough quality to make a strong comeback. He pointed to their encouraging start against Sri Lanka as an important first step in their bid to improve their position in the standings. “I’m hoping they do. It’ll be a great run if India can qualify for the WTC final from here,” Dravid told JioStar when asked about India’s chances of reaching the 2027 final. “They’ve fallen behind a little bit, but the kind of quality that the Indian team has, you’re not going to write them off at any stage. They started off well against Sri Lanka, so that’s a good first step,” he added.
India’s next major challenge will come against New Zealand later this year. The two-match Test series begins on November 19, 2026, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, followed by the second Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
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Dravid expects the New Zealand tour to test India’s young players, particularly those without significant experience of playing Test cricket in overseas conditions. He also believes the absence of several experienced players will make the assignment even more demanding.
“(Playing against) New Zealand away is always a challenge. They’re a tough team to play away from home. A lot of the young Indian boys have not played in those conditions, so that’s going to be a big challenge,” Rahul Dravid said.
India will also miss the experience of players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, who have previously played crucial roles in challenging overseas Test conditions.
“Hopefully, they can keep the guys fit and not have a lot of injuries over the next few months. We’re missing the experience of Virat (Kohli) and Rohit (Sharma), Ajinkya Rahane and (Cheteshwar) Pujara, these kinds of guys who’ve probably been there the last time India went. So that will be an interesting series as well,” Rahul Dravid added.
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Looking further ahead, Dravid also expects Australia’s tour of India to be highly competitive. He believes several Australian players will be determined to succeed in India, where the visitors have struggled in recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaigns.
“Australia will be really exciting. A lot of their players will be very keen to do well in India. That’s a generation of truly great Australian players, a great Australian team that has not won in India. So they’ll be keen to do that,” Rahul Dravid said.
